United Nations Command
United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first a ...
(UN) and
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
n forces early in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
from September 1 to September 15, 1950, in the vicinity of Ka-san in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
. It was a part of the
Battle of Pusan Perimeter
The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter ( ko, 부산 교두보 전투) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the ...
, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the United Nations after large numbers of
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
(US) and
Republic of Korea Army
The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...
(ROK) troops repelled a strong
Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...
(KPA) attack.
Attempting to capture
Taegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
as part of the
Great Naktong Offensive
The Great Naktong Offensive was a North Korean military offensive against United Nations Command (UN) forces early in the Korean War, taking place from September 1–15, 1950. It was the North Korean Korean People's Army (KPA)'s unsuccessful f ...
, the KPA 1st and 13th Divisions advanced to the hill masses north of the city where they confronted the US 1st Cavalry Division and the ROK 1st Division. The KPA sought to occupy a number of hill masses, most prominently Hill 902, known to South Koreans as Ka-san, for the ancient fortress situated atop it.
In two weeks of fighting in and around the fortress, the KPA were able to gradually push back the UN forces from Ka-san and Hills 755 and 314 to the south, but the UN forces held out strongly and the KPA were not able to quickly consolidate their gains. The UN forces defended the ground tenaciously, even assigning a battalion of
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...
to fight on the front lines, eventually preventing the KPA from advancing long enough for the KPA to be outflanked by the Inchon landings on 15 September and on 16 September the UN forces began their breakout from the Pusan Perimeter which drove the KPA from the area.
Background
Pusan Perimeter
From the outbreak of the Korean War and the invasion of South Korea by the North, the KPA had enjoyed superiority in both manpower and equipment over both the ROK and the UN forces dispatched to South Korea to prevent it from collapsing. The KPA tactics were to aggressively pursue UN forces on all avenues of approach south and to engage them aggressively, attacking from the front and initiating a
double envelopment
The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is a military maneuver in which forces simultaneously attack both flanks (sides) of an enemy formation. This classic maneuver holds an important foothold throughout the history of warfare.
The pin ...
of both flanks of the unit, which allowed the KPA to surround and cut off the opposing force, which would then be forced to retreat in disarray, often leaving behind much of its equipment. From their initial June 25 offensive to fights in July and early August, the KPA used these tactics to effectively defeat any UN force and push it south. However, when the UN forces, under the
Eighth United States Army
The Eighth Army is a U.S. field army which is the commanding formation of all United States Army forces in South Korea. It commands U.S. and South Korean units and is headquartered at the Camp Humphreys,Pusan Perimeter
The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter ( ko, 부산 교두보 전투) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the ...
in August, the UN troops held a continuous line along the peninsula which KPA troops could not flank, and their advantages in numbers decreased daily as the superior UN logistical system brought in more troops and supplies to the UN forces.
When the KPA approached the Pusan Perimeter on August 5, they attempted the same frontal assault technique on the four main avenues of approach into the perimeter. Throughout August, the KPA 6th Division, and later the KPA 7th Division engaged the US 25th Infantry Division at the
Battle of Masan
The Battle of Masan was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces, which took place early in the Korean War between August 5 and September 19, 1950, in the vicinity of Masan and the Naktong River in South Korea. I ...
, initially repelling a UN
counteroffensive
In the study of military tactics, a counter-offensive is a large-scale strategic offensive military operation, usually by forces that had successfully halted the enemy's offensive, while occupying defensive positions.
The counter-offensive i ...
before countering with battles at Komam-ni and Battle Mountain. These attacks stalled as UN forces, well equipped and with plenty of reserves, repeatedly repelled KPA attacks. North of Masan, the KPA 4th Division and the US 24th Infantry Division sparred in the
Naktong Bulge
The First Battle of Naktong Bulge was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces early in the Korean War from August 5–19, 1950 in the vicinity of Yongsan (Yeongsan, Changnyeong county) and the Naktong River in S ...
area. In the
First Battle of Naktong Bulge
The First Battle of Naktong Bulge was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces early in the Korean War from August 5–19, 1950 in the vicinity of Yongsan (Yeongsan, Changnyeong county) and the Naktong River in S ...
, the KPA division was unable to hold its
bridgehead
In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...
across the river as large numbers of US reserve forces were brought in to repel it, and on August 19, the KPA 4th Division was forced back across the river with 50 percent casualties. In the
Taegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
region, five KPA divisions were repulsed by three UN divisions in several attempts to attack the city during the
Battle of Taegu
The Battle of Taegu was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces early in the Korean War, with fighting continuing from August 5–20, 1950 around the city of Taegu, South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pus ...
. Particularly heavy fighting took place at the Battle of the Bowling Alley where the KPA 13th Division was almost completely destroyed in the attack. On the east coast, three more KPA divisions were repulsed by the ROK at
P'ohang-dong
Pohang () is a city in the province of North Gyeongsang, South Korea, and a main seaport in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region. The built-up area of Pohang is located on the alluvium of the mouth of the Hyeongsan River. The city is divided into two wa ...
during the
Battle of P'ohang-dong
The Battle of P'ohang-dong was an engagement between the United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces early in the Korean War, with fighting continuing from 5–20 August 1950 around the town of P'ohang-dong, South Korea. It was a part o ...
. All along the front, the KPA troops were reeling from these defeats, the first time in the war their tactics were not working.
September push
In planning its new offensive, the KPA command decided any attempt to flank the UN force was impossible thanks to the support of the UN naval forces. Instead, they opted to use frontal attack to breach the perimeter and collapse it as the only hope of achieving success in the battle. Fed by intelligence from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
the North Koreans were aware the UN forces were building up along the Pusan Perimeter and that it must conduct an offensive soon or it could not win the battle. A secondary objective was to surround Taegu and destroy the UN units in that city. As part of this mission, the KPA would first cut the supply lines to Taegu.
On August 20, the KPA commands distributed operations orders to their subordinate units. The plan called for a simultaneous five-prong attack against the UN lines. These attacks would overwhelm the UN defenders and allow the KPA to break through the lines in at least one place to force the UN forces back. Five battle groupings were ordered. The center attack called for the KPA 3rd, 13th and 1st Divisions to break through the US 1st Cavalry Division and ROK 1st Division to Taegu.
Battle
Simultaneous with their attack at Ka-san, UN and KPA units were similarly deadlocked a short distance away in the Battle of Tabu-dong. In that sector, KPA Major Kim Song Jun of the 19th Regiment, 13th Division had defected to the UN troops on September 1. He reported that a full-scale KPA attack was to begin at dusk that day. The 13th Division, he said, had just taken in 4,000 replacements, 2,000 of them without weapons, and was now back to a strength of approximately 9,000 men. Upon receiving this intelligence, 1st Cavalry Division commander
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
Hobart R. Gay alerted all of his division's front-line units to be prepared for the attack. ROK 1st Division commander
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
Hard on the heels of Kim's warning that the KPA attack would strike the night of September 2, the attack hit with full force in the ''Bowling Alley'' area north of Taegu. The attack caught the US
8th Cavalry Regiment
The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except Worl ...
unprepared at
Sangju
Sangju () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, central South Korea. Although Sangju is rather rural, it is very old and was once a key city. Along with Gyeongju, it gives rise to half of the name of the Gyeongsang provinces. Sangju is nickn ...
. The division was poorly deployed along the road to that town, lacking a
reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish
* Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County
* Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
force to counterattack effectively. The KPA struck the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, the night of September 2–3 on Hill 448 west of the Bowling Alley and north of Tabu-dong, and overran it. On the right, E Company, although not under attack, was cut off and had to withdraw. The commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion placed I Company in a blocking position just north of Tabu-dong astride the road. There, two KPA
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The C ...
tanks and some infantry struck it at 02:00 on September 3. In this action, I Company suffered many casualties but repelled the attack. The overrun 2nd Battalion withdrew through the 3rd Battalion which had assembled hastily in a defensive position south of Tabu-dong. During the day, elements of the KPA 1st Division forced the 8th Cavalry I&R Platoon and a detachment of
National Police National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries:
*Afghanistan: Afghan National Police
*Haiti: Haitian National Police
*Colombia: National Police of Colombia
*Cuba: Cuban National Police
*East Timor: National Police of ...
from the
Walled City
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
of Ka-san on the crest of Hill 902, east of Tabu-dong. On September 3, therefore, the UN command, the
Eighth United States Army
The Eighth Army is a U.S. field army which is the commanding formation of all United States Army forces in South Korea. It commands U.S. and South Korean units and is headquartered at the Camp Humphreys,
The North Koreans now concentrated artillery north of Hill 902 and, although its fire was light and sporadic, it did cause minor damage in the 99th Field Artillery positions. This sudden surge of the North Koreans southward toward Taegu concerned the Eighth Army commander,
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Walton Walker
Walton Harris Walker (December 3, 1889 – December 23, 1950) was a United States Army four-star general who served with distinction in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, where he commanded the Eighth United States Army before dyin ...
. The Army ordered an ROK battalion from the Taegu Replacement Training Center to a position in the rear of the 8th Cavalry, and the 1st Cavalry Division organized Task Force Allen, to be commanded by Assistant Division Commander
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Frank A. Allen, Jr. This task force comprised two provisional battalions formed of division headquarters and technical service troops, the division band, the replacement company, and other miscellaneous troops. It was to be used in combat as an emergency force should the North Koreans break through to the edge of Taegu.
US counterattack on Ka-san
Eighth Army countered the KPA advance down the Tabu-dong road by ordering the 1st Cavalry Division to recapture and defend Hill 902. This hill, north of Taegu, gave observation all the way south through Eighth Army positions into the city, and, in KPA hands, could be used for general intelligence purposes and to direct artillery and mortar fire. Hill 902 was too far distant from the Tabu-dong road to dominate it; otherwise it would have controlled this main communication route. The shortage of KPA artillery and mortar ammunition reduced the advantages the peak held as an observation point for the KPA.
Despite being popularly known as the "walled city," there was no walled city on the crest of Ka-san in 1950. Ka-san, or Hill 902, the mountain which differs from most high peaks in this part of Korea in having an oval-shaped semi-level area on its summit. This oval is a part of a ridge-like crest, varying from to in width, which slopes down from the peak at to approximately at its southeastern end. On all sides of this ridge crest the mountain slopes drop precipitously. In ancient times, Koreans had built a stone wall around the crest and had converted the summit into a fortress. Most of the summit in 1950 was covered with a dense growth of scrub brush and small pine trees. There were a few small terraced fields. Koreans knew Ka-san as the "Sacred Mountain". Near the northern end of the crest still stood the
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Poguk Temple.
When the 1st Cavalry Division on August 29 assumed responsibility for the old ROK 1st Division sector north of Taegu it sent a patrol from the I&R Platoon to the top of Ka-san. There the patrol found 156 National Police. There was some discussion between Gay and Walker about whether the 1st Cavalry Division or the ROK 1st Division should have the responsibility for the mountain. Gay maintained that his understrength division with a front was already overextended and could not extend eastward beyond the hills immediately adjacent to the Tabu-dong road. Uncertainty as to final responsibility for Ka-san ended on the afternoon of September 3 after the KPA had seized the mountain.
The Eighth Army telephoned Colonel Ernest V. Holmes, Chief of Staff of the 1st Cavalry Division, and told him that the 1st Cavalry Division had responsibility for the Walled City. Holmes replied he would send a company of engineers to Ka-san. Holmes ordered
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
William C. Holley, commanding officer of the 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, to report to Colonel Raymond D. Palmer, commanding the 8th Cavalry Regiment. That afternoon Palmer in his command post on the Tabu-dong road outlined to Holley and the commanding officers of D Company, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, and E Company, 8th Cavalry, his attack plan to regain control of Ka-san. The Engineer company, commanded by
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...
John T. Kennedy, was to lead the attack, E Company following. Once the force had gained the crest and E Company had established itself in defensive positions, the Engineer company was to come off the mountain. Many of the men in D Company were veteran infantrymen who had fought in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
That evening, D Company loaded into trucks traveled north to the assembly area through a heavy rain. On the way they met two truckloads of National Police going south, some of them wounded. These were the police who, together with the detachment of the I&R Platoon, had been driven off Ka-san that afternoon. After waiting in the rain awhile for orders, the Engineer company turned around and went back to camp.
Engineer attack
The next morning, September 4, D Company received orders to move immediately as an
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
force to Ka-san. The company carried no
rations
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
since E Company, 8th Cavalry, was to bring food and water later. The engineer troops arrived at their assembly area near the village of Kisong-dong east of the Tabu-dong road, where Holley set up a communications command post.
Sniper
A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...
fire came in on the men as they moved up the trail to the base of Ka-san's steep slope. Word was given to the company that there were about 75 disorganized KPA troops on Ka-san. But actually, during the afternoon and evening of September 3, the KPA 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 1st Division, had occupied the summit of Ka-san.
The engineer company started its attack up the mountain about noon of September 4, following a trail up a southern spur. The 1st Platoon was in the lead, single file, followed by the 2nd and 3rd Platoons. Palmer considered the mission so important that he and his
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
officer,
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Rene J. Guiraud, accompanied the engineers.
Platoon Sergeant
In many militaries, a platoon sergeant is the senior enlisted member of a platoon, who advises and supports the platoon's commanding officer in leading the unit.
Singapore
In the Singapore Armed Forces, a platoon sergeant serves as the bridge be ...
James N. Vandygriff, 2nd Platoon, D Company, in a brief conversation with Holley as he went ahead of the latter on his way up the trail, said he thought the attack was a "
suicide mission
A suicide mission is a task which is so dangerous for the people involved that they are not expected to survive. The term is sometimes extended to include suicide attacks such as kamikaze and suicide bombings, whose perpetrators actively commit s ...
".
Less than up the trail, D Company came under machine gun fire from its right flank, which inflicted several casualties. Kennedy rejected Vandygriff's request to take a
squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...
and knock out the gun, so the file got past the line of fire as best it could until
M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) is a family of American automatic rifles and machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the . ...
fire from the 3rd Platoon silenced the weapon. Farther up the trail another KPA machine gun fired from the right along the trail and held up the advance until US artillery fire silenced it. The file of men left the trail-like road, which dead-ended, dropped over into a ravine on the left, and continued the climb. KPA mortar fire killed two men and wounded eight or ten others in this phase of the ascent. At this time the 2nd Platoon leader collapsed from a
kidney
The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...
ailment and command passed to Vandygriff. Vandygriff led his platoon, now at the head of the company, on up the gully and at about 17:00, came through a tunnel under a small ridge and the stone wall into the bowl-shaped summit of Hill 755, the southern arm of the Hill 902 crest. The 2nd and 3rd Platoons soon arrived, in that order. Near the top, Palmer received radio orders from Gay to come off the mountain; Gay had not known that Palmer had accompanied the attack.
Defense of Ka-san
Kennedy placed the 90 men of his company in position facing in an arc from west to northeast; the 2nd Platoon took the left flank near the stone wall, the 1st Platoon took the center position on a wooded knoll, and the 3rd Platoon the right flank at the edge of a woods. Just as he reached the top,
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
Thomas T. Jones, commanding the 3rd Platoon, saw and heard three KPA mortars fire from away on a grassy ridge to the east. He suggested to Kennedy that artillery fire be directed on these mortars, but Kennedy did not act on the suggestion. Kennedy established his command post inside the tunnel behind the 2nd Platoon position. The D Company position was entirely within the area enclosed by the stone wall, which was nearly intact except on the northeast near the 3rd Platoon position where it had crumbled and was covered with brush and trees. Jones pointed out to his
platoon sergeant
In many militaries, a platoon sergeant is the senior enlisted member of a platoon, who advises and supports the platoon's commanding officer in leading the unit.
Singapore
In the Singapore Armed Forces, a platoon sergeant serves as the bridge be ...
and squad leaders where he wanted them to take position at the edge of the woods facing the KPA mortars he had seen on the grassy ridge beyond. He then remained a few minutes in conversation with Kennedy. A few minutes later Jones joined his 3rd Squad men at the edge of the woods. They told him that the platoon sergeant and the rest had continued on toward the narrow grassy ridge. One of the squad members called Jones to the edge of the woods and pointed out 12 well-camouflaged KPA soldiers, one of them carrying a machine gun, coming down the narrow ridge toward them from the mortar position. This group was a security force for the mortars and they dropped to the ground about one-third of the way down the ridge.
Jones decided to bring back his other two squads to form a solid line and, expecting to be gone only a few minutes, he left his
SCR-300
The SCR-300 was a portable radio transceiver used by US Signal Corps in World War II. This backpack-mounted unit was the first radio to be nicknamed a "walkie talkie".
History
In 1940, Motorola (then the Galvin Manufacturing Company) received a ...
radio behind. Jones found one squad but the other had gone on farther and was not visible. While he studied the terrain and waited for a messenger he had sent to bring back that last squad, KPA attacked the main company position behind him. Judging by the noise he heard, Jones thought that KPA had moved in force to the wooded bowl between him and the rest of the company. Jones never got back to his 3rd Squad. He and the rest of the platoon dropped down off the ridge into a gully on the left.
That night Jones and the eight men with him stayed in the ravine just under the crest. Without his radio he could not communicate with the rest of the company which he thought had been destroyed or driven off the hill. The next day when American fighter planes strafed the hilltop it confirmed his belief that no D Company men were there. Some of the men in the advanced squad made their way back to US lines, but the KPA captured Jones and the eight men with him near the bottom of Ka-san on September 10 as they were trying to make their way through the KPA lines. This account of the 3rd Platoon explains why, except for the 3d Squad which rejoined D Company that evening, it was out of the action and off the crest almost as soon as it arrived on top, unknown to Kennedy and the rest of the company at the time.
North Koreans hit Hill 755
About 30 minutes after D Company had reached Hill 755, an estimated KPA battalion launched an attack down the slope running south to Hill 755 from the crest of Hill 902. The main attack hit Vandygriff's 2nd Platoon just after Vandygriff had set up and loaded his two machine guns. These machine guns and the protection of the wall on its left enabled D Company to turn back this attack, which left one dead and three wounded in the 2nd Platoon. That night, KPA mortar and small arms fire harassed the company and there were several small probing attacks. Having no communication with the 3rd Platoon, Kennedy sent a patrol to its supposed position. The patrol reported back that it could find no one there but had found the platoon's rocket launchers and two light machine guns.
At dawn on September 5 the KPA attacked. The engineers repulsed this attack but suffered some casualties. KPA fire destroyed Vandygriff's radio, forcing him to use runners to communicate with Kennedy's command post. Ammunition was running low and three US
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...
aircraft came over the area to make an
airdrop
An airdrop is a type of airlift in which items including weapons, equipment, humanitarian aid or leaflets are delivered by military or civilian aircraft without their landing. Developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible tro ...
. Kennedy put out orange identification panels, but the KPA put out similar panels. The planes circled, and finally dropped their bundles of ammunition and food on the KPA positions. Immediately after the airdrops, two
F-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...
fighter planes came over and attacked D Company. The KPA panels had misled both the cargo and fighter planes. The fighters dropped two
napalm
Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...
tanks within D Company's perimeter, but none there were injured. The planes then strafed right through the 2nd Platoon position, but again caused no casualties. Soon after this aerial attack, KPA troops attacked the positions, and PPSh-41 "burp gun" fire wounded Kennedy in the leg and ankle.
Sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 the advanced platoon of E Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment, arrived on top of Hill 755 and came into D Company's perimeter. Some of the engineers fired on the E Company men before the latter identified themselves. The E Company platoon went into position on the right of Vandygriff, and Kennedy turned over command of the combined force to the E Company commander. Kennedy then assembled 12 wounded men and started down the mountain with them. The party was under small arms fire most of the way. A carrying party of Korean
A-frame
An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...
porters Porters may refer to:
* Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States
* Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States
* Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand
* ''Porters'' (TV ser ...
led by an American officer had started up the mountain during the morning with supplies. KPA fire, killing several of the porters, turned it back.
The day before, E Company had been delayed in following D Company to Hill 755. Soon after the Engineer company had started up the trail on September 4, E Company arrived at Holley's command post at the base of the mountain. KPA mortar fire was falling on the trail at the time and the company commander said he could not advance because of it. Holley radioed this information to Palmer who designated another company commander. This second officer was soon wounded in the leg and Holley then designated a third officer, who started up the mountain with E Company that evening about 20:00. KPA fire stopped the company short of the crest before dawn. It was this same company that the KPA 13th Division had cut off when it launched its attack the evening of September 2 and overran the 2nd Battalion north of Tabu-dong. Tired and dispirited from this experience and their roundabout journey to rejoin the regiment, E Company men were suffering from lowered morale.
Shortly after the E Company platoon joined Vandygriff, the KPA attacked again. The E Company infantrymen had brought no mortars with them-only small arms. In this situation, Vandygriff took a 3.5-inch rocket launcher and fired into the KPA attackers, causing them to break off the attack. By now Vandygriff's troops were nearly out of ammunition. He then instructed his men to gather up all the weapons and ammunition from KPA dead they could reach, and in this manner they obtained for emergency use about 30 to 40 rifles, 5 PPSh-41 guns, and some hand grenades.
In the course of gathering up these weapons, Vandygriff passed the dug-in position of
Private First Class
Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces.
French speaking countries
In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ) ...
Melvin L. Brown
Melvin Louis Brown (February 2, 1931 – September 5, 1950) was a United States Army soldier during the Korean War. He Posthumous recognition, posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions on September 4, 1950, during the Battle of Ka-sa ...
, a
BAR
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
man in the 3rd Squad. Brown was next to the wall on the extreme left of the platoon position at a point where the wall was only about high. At the bottom of the wall around Brown's position lay 15 to 20 KPA dead. Earlier in the day, about 08:00, Kennedy had visited Brown and had seen five KPA dead that Brown had killed with BAR fire. Subsequently, Brown exhausted his automatic rifle ammunition, then his few grenades, and finally he used his
entrenching tool
An entrenching tool (U.K.), intrenching tool (U.S.), E-tool, or trenching tool is a digging tool used by military forces for a variety of military purposes. Survivalists, campers, hikers and other outdoors groups have found it to be indispensabl ...
to knock the KPA in the head when they tried to climb over the wall. Brown had been slightly wounded in the shoulder early in the morning, but had bandaged it himself and refused to leave his position.
Evacuation of Ka-san
At 13:30 Gay ordered the 8th Cavalry Regiment to withdraw its men off Ka-san. Gay believed he had insufficient forces to secure and hold it and that the KPA had insufficient ammunition to exploit its possession as an observation point for directing artillery and mortar fire. However, Holley could not reach anyone in D Company, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion.
Rain started falling again and heavy fog closed in on the mountain top and severely reduced visibility there. Again the KPA attacked the 2nd Platoon and the adjacent E Company infantrymen. One of the engineers was shot through the neck and Vandygriff sent him to the company command post, only to have the man return to report that there was no longer a command post, that he could not find anyone and had seen only KPA dead. Vandygriff now went to the noncommissioned officer who was in command of the E Company platoon and inform him. The two decided to withdraw.
As Vandygriff and his men began pulling back from the mountain, KPA fire was falling in the platoon area from nearly all directions. The
squad leader
''Squad Leader'' is a tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of the most complex war games of its time, ''Squa ...
s started to break up the weapons that the platoon could not take out with them. At this time they discovered Brown was dead. Vandygriff told his troops not to remove the identification tags from the dead they would be leaving behind, as the tags would be the only means of identification later. Vandygriff put his platoon in a V formation and led them off the hill by the same trail they had ascended, picking up four wounded men on the way down.
At the base of the mountain, Holley and others in the afternoon saw E Company men come down from the top and, later, men from the engineer company. Each group thought it was the last of the survivors and told confused, conflicting stories. When all remaining members of D Company had been assembled, Holley found that the company had suffered 50 percent casualties; 18 men were wounded and 30 were
missing in action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...
.
KPA consolidation
Soldiers of the ROK 1st Division captured a KPA soldier near Ka-san on September 4 who said that about 800 KPA soldiers were on Ka-san with three more battalions following them from the north. The engineer company had succeeded only in establishing a perimeter briefly within the KPA-held area. By evening of September 5, Ka-san was securely in KPA hands with an estimated five battalions, totaling about 1,500 soldiers, on the mountain and its forward slope. A KPA oxtrain carrying 82-mm. mortar shells and rice reportedly reached the top of Ka-san during the day. The ROK 1st Division captured this oxtrain a few days later south of Ka-san. By September 10, 400-500 KPA were on the ridge of Ka-San, as observed by a T-6 Mosquito spotter plane.
Now, with Ka-san firmly in their possession, the KPA 13th and 1st Divisions made ready to press on downhill into Taegu. On September 6, the day after the US troops were driven off Ka-san, a KPA force established a roadblock below Tabu-dong and other units occupied Hill 570, southwest of Ka-san and overlooking the Taegu road from the east side. The next morning five tanks of the 16th Reconnaissance Company prepared to lead an attack against the roadblock. The KPA troops were in a rice field west and on the hills east of the road. Gay personally observed the action. The tank attack speedily disposed of the KPA in the rice field, but the US infantry spent several hours clearing the hills on the east side of the road.
KPA artillery during September 7 shelled batteries of the 9th and 99th Field Artillery Battalions, forcing displacement of two batteries during the day. US air strikes and artillery kept both Hills 902 and 570 under heavy attack. Even though the 1st Cavalry Division fell back nearly everywhere that day, Walker ordered it and the ROK II Corps to attack and seize Hill 902 and Ka-san. He directed the ROK 1st Division and the US 1st Cavalry Division to select a boundary between them and to maintain physical contact during the attack.
On the morning of September 8, Lieutenant Colonel Harold K. Johnson's 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, after a withdrawal during the night from its former position, tried to drive the KPA from Hill 570. The three peaks of this mountain mass were under clouds, making it impossible to support the infantry attack with air strikes or artillery and mortar fire. Johnson placed all three of his companies in the assault against the three peaks; two of them reached their objectives, one with little opposition, the other caught KPA soldiers asleep on the ground. But KPA counterattacks regained this second peak. The main KPA force on Hill 570 was on the third and highest of the three peaks and held it firmly against the L Company attack. The I
Company commander
A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by country, ...
and the L Company
executive officer
An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...
were killed, as were several NCOs. An estimated 1,000 KPA soldiers were on Hill 570, north of Taegu, and on September 8, Walker decided the continued pressure against the eastern flank of the 1st Cavalry Division sector was the most immediate threat to the UN Forces at Pusan Perimeter.
That same day, 8 September, the 1st Cavalry Division canceled a planned continuation of the attack against Hill 570 by the 3rd Battalion,
7th Cavalry Regiment
The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune.
The regiment participated in some of the largest ba ...
, when KPA forces threatened Hills 314 and 660, south and east of 570.
Taegu threatened
In the midst of this drive on Taegu, an ammunition shortage became critical for the UN forces. The situation was such that UN Commander General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
on September 9 sent messages urging that two
ammunition ships
An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...
then en route to
Yokohama, Japan
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
and Pusan carrying 172,790 rounds of 105-mm. shells, with estimated arrival time September 11, proceed at maximum speed consistent with the safety of the vessels. Eighth Army on September 10 reduced the ration of 105-mm.
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
ammunition from 50 to 25 rounds per howitzer per day, except in cases of emergency.
Carbine
A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.
The smaller size and lighter ...
ammunition was also in critical short supply. The 17th Field Artillery Battalion, with the first 8-inch howitzers to arrive in Korea, could not engage in the battle for lack of ammunition.
The KPA 1st Division now began moving in the zone of the ROK 1st Division around the right flank of the 1st Cavalry Division. Its 2nd Regiment, with 1,200 men, advanced eastward from the vicinity of Hill 902 to the towering mountain of P'algong-san. It reached the top of P'algong-san about daylight on September 10, and a little later new replacements made a charge toward the ROK positions. The ROK repulsed the charge, killing or wounding about two-thirds of the attacking force.
The US 1st Cavalry Division now had most of its combat units concentrated on its right flank north of Taegu. The 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, attached to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, was behind that regiment on Hills 181 and 182 astride the Tabu-dong road only north of Taegu. The rest of the 7th Cavalry Regiment (the 1st Battalion rejoined the regiment during the day) was in the valley of the Kumho River to the right rear between the KPA and the Taegu Airfield, which was situated northeast of the city. The US
5th Cavalry Regiment
The 5th Cavalry Regiment ("Black Knights") is a historical unit of the United States Army that began its service on August 3, 1861, when an act of Congress enacted "that the two regiments of dragoons, the regiment of mounted riflemen, and the t ...
was disposed on the hills astride the
Waegwan
Waegwan is the seat of government for Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang province, South Korea. It consists primarily of the administrative district of Waegwan- eup. It is situated on both sides of the Nakdong River, which is traversed by railroad, a ...
road northwest of Taegu. On its left the entire 8th Engineer Combat Battalion was in line as infantry, with the mission of holding a bridge across the Kumho River near its juncture with the
Naktong River
The Nakdonggang River or Nakdonggang () is the longest river in South Korea, and passes through major cities such as Daegu and Busan. It takes its name from its role as the eastern border of the Gaya confederacy during Korea's Three Kingdoms E ...
east of Taegu.
The fighting north of Taegu on September 11 in the vicinity of Hills 660 and 314 was heavy and confused. For a time, the 1st Cavalry Division feared a breakthrough to the blocking position of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. The rifle companies of the division were now very low in strength. Johnson stated later that any company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, that had 100 men during this period was his assault company for the day.
Hill 314
While the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, again vainly attacked Hill 570 on September 11, KPA soldiers seized the crest of Hill 314 southeast of it and that much closer to Taegu. Actually, the two hill masses are adjacent and their lower slopes within small arms range of each other. The KPA drove the 16th Reconnaissance Company from the hill and only the ROK 5th Training Battalion, previously hurried into the line from Taegu in a supporting position, prevented the KPA from gaining complete control of this terrain feature. This ROK battalion still held part of the reverse slope of Hill 314 when the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, hurried to the scene from its attacks on Hill 570 and tried to retake the position. The ROK battalion twice had attacked and reached the crest but could not hold it, and had dug in on the lower southern slopes. The 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, command post had to fight off infiltrating KPA on September 12 as it issued its attack order and prepared to attack through the 8th Cavalry lines against Hill 314.
This attack on the 12th was to be part of a larger US and ROK counterattack against the KPA 13th and 1st Divisions in an effort to halt them north of Taegu. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, relieved the ROK units on Hill 660, east of Hill 314, and had the mission of securing that hill. Farther east the ROK 1st Division had the mission of attacking from P'algong-san toward Ka-san. The point nearest Taegu occupied by KPA forces at this time was Hill 314. The KPA 13th Division valued its possession and had concentrated about 700 soldiers on it. The KPA intended to use Hill 314 in making the next advance on Taegu. From it, observation reached to Taegu and it commanded the lesser hills southward rimming the Taegu bowl. Hill 314 is actually the southern knob of a hill mass which lies close to the east side of Hill 570 and is separated from that hill mass only by a deep gulch. The southern point rises to and the ridge line climbs northward from it in a series of knobs. The ridge line is in length, and all sides of the hill mass are very steep.
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Lynch's 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, on the eve of its attack against Hill 314 numbered 535 men, less its rear echelons. The battalion had arrived in Korea at the end of August. The action of the 7th Cavalry at Hill 518, begun nine days earlier, had been its first action, and attacking Hill 314 would be its second. The battalion attack plan this time differed radically from that employed against Hill 518 and was a direct development of that failure. The key aspect of the Hill 314 attack plan was to mass as many riflemen as possible on top of the narrow ridge line, by attacking with two companies abreast along the ridge, as opposed to Hill 518, where the firepower of only a platoon, and at times of only a squad, could be brought to bear against the KPA. Because of the ammunition shortage there was no artillery preparation on Hill 314, but there was an air strike before Lynch's battalion, with L Company on the left and I Company on the right started its attack from the lower slopes at 11:00 on September 12.
KPA 120-mm. mortar fire was already falling on battalion as it moved out. For it encountered only sporadic small arms and machine gun fire; then KPA rifle fire became intense and preregistered mortar fire came down on the troops, slowing the advance. On the left, men in L Company could see approximately 400 KPA preparing to counterattack. They radioed for an air strike but the designated planes were on the ground refueling. The troops were still able to repulse the counterattack with combined artillery, mortar, and small arms fire. The air strike came in at 14:00, blanketing the top and the north slope of the ridge. By this time KPA mortar fire had caused many casualties, and elements of L and I Companies became intermingled. But, in contrast to the action on Hill 518, the men continued the attack largely of their own volition after many of the officers had become casualties. Many of the officers in the companies were wounded but refused evacuation and simply continued the attack. Fifteen minutes after the air strike, the 3rd Battalion resumed its attack toward the crest. As it neared it the KPA came out of their positions in a violent counterattack and engaged at close quarters. Some men gained the crest but KPA mortar and machine gun fire drove them off. They reached it a second time but could not hold it. Another air strike hit the KPA. Then, a third time, the company commander led his men to the top. The men scrambled up a 60-degree slope for the last stretch to the top, where they closed with the KPA and overran their positions. The remaining men of the two US companies secured the hill and then reorganized jointly. There were fewer than 40 effectives left in L Company and about 40 in I Company; the latter had lost all its officers.
Gay caused a special study to be made of this action because he considered it so outstanding. He found that the 3d Battalion suffered 229 battle casualties in the first two hours. Of these, 38 troops were killed and 167 wounded, the remainder were
Korean Augmentation To the United States Army
Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA
Korean language, Korean: :ko:카투사, 카투사) is a branch of the Republic of Korea Army that consists of Korean drafted personnel who are augmented to the Eighth United States Army (E ...
. The battalion aid station reported treating 130 casualties. Other wounded were treated at the 8th Cavalry aid station. Many men with minor wounds did not ask for medical attention until the battle had ended, and there were only five cases of
combat shock
''Combat Shock'' is a 1986 exploitation war drama film written, produced, and directed by Buddy Giovinazzo and starring his brother Rick Giovinazzo in the lead role. The film was distributed by Troma Entertainment.
The plot of the film takes ...
in contrast to the eighteen on Hill 518. KPA mortar fire caused 80 percent of the casualties.
The battalion held Hill 314 for the next six days and gathered up a large amount of KPA equipment and ammunition. The KPA soldiers on Hill 314 wore US uniforms, helmets and combat boots. Many of them had
M1 rifle
The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World War ...
s and carbines. About 200 KPA dead were on the hill. Of the other 500 estimated to have been there, most of them had been wounded or were missing. Several war crimes committed by the KPA came to light during the action on Hill 314. On September 12 while the final action on the hill was taking place, troops discovered an American officer who had been bound, gasoline poured over him, and burned. Two days later members of the battalion found on the hill the bodies of four other American soldiers with their hands tied. The bodies bore evidence that the men had been
bayonet
A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...
ed and shot while bound.
Final moves
After the capture of Hill 314 on September 12, the situation north of Taegu improved. On September 14 the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, attacked and, supported by fire from Hill 314, gained part of Hill 570 from the KPA 19th Regiment, 13th Division.
Across the army boundary on the right, the ROK 1st Division continued its attack northwest and advanced to the edge of Ka-san. The ROK 11th Regiment seized Hill 755 about dark on September 14, and small elements of the ROK 15th Regiment reached the stone ramparts of the Ka-san area at the same time. The ROK and KPA troops fought during the night and on into the 15th at many points along the high mountain backbone that extends southeast from Ka-san to Hills 755 and 783 and on to P'algong-san. Prisoners taken by the ROK's estimated that there were about 800 KPA on this high ridge. The ROK 1st Division later estimated that approximately 3,000 KPA were inside Ka-san's walled perimeter and about 1,500 or 2,000 outside it near the crest. At this time the bulk of the KPA 1st Division was gradually withdrawing into Ka-san and its vicinity. Indications were that the KPA 13th Division also was withdrawing northward. Aerial observers on the afternoon of September 14 reported that an estimated 500 KPA troops were moving north from Tabu-dong. While these signs were hopeful, Walker continued to prepare for a final close-in defense of Taegu. As part of this, fourteen battalions of South Korean police dug in around the city.
The fighting continued unabated north of Taegu on the 15th. The 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, still fought to gain control of Hill 570 on the east side of the Tabu-dong highway. On the other side, the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, attacked Hill 401 where a KPA force had penetrated in a gap between the 8th and 5th Cavalry Regiments. The fighting on Hill 401 was particularly severe. Both sides had troops on the mountain when night fell.
North Korean withdrawal
The UN counterattack at Inchon outflanked the KPA and cut off all their main supply and reinforcement routes. On September 16 Eighth Army began its Breakout from the Pusan Perimeter. On September 19 the UN discovered the KPA had abandoned much of the Pusan Perimeter during the night, and the UN units began advancing out of their defensive positions and occupying them. Most of the KPA units began conducting delaying actions attempting to get as much of their army as possible into North Korea. The KPA withdrew from the Masan area first, the night of September 18–19. After the forces there, the remainder of the KPA withdrew rapidly to the North. The UN units rapidly pursued them north, passing over the Naktong River positions, which were no longer of strategic importance.
Aftermath
The KPA 13th and 1st Divisions were almost completely destroyed in the battles. The 1st Division had numbered 5,000 men at the beginning of the offensive on September 1. The 13th Division numbered 9,000. Only 2,000 men from the 1st Division were able to retreat back into North Korea by October. The majority of the division's troops had been killed, captured or deserted. The KPA 13th Division, however, was completely annihilated. Only a few isolated pockets of its men were known to have made it back to North Korea. Most of the division's officers, including its artillery commander, division surgeon, the chief of staff, and two of the three regimental commanders. When the KPA 19th Regiment surrendered in Tanyang, it had only 167 men. No more than a few hundred of the original 9,000 returned to North Korea. All of KPA II Corps was in a similar state, and the KPA was on the brink of defeat.
By this time, the US 1st Cavalry Division suffered 770 killed, 2,613 wounded, 62 captured during its time at Pusan Perimeter. This included about 600 casualties, with around 200 killed in action it had already suffered during the
Battle of Taegu
The Battle of Taegu was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces early in the Korean War, with fighting continuing from August 5–20, 1950 around the city of Taegu, South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pus ...
the previous month. American forces were continually repulsed but able to prevent the KPA from breaking the Pusan Perimeter. The division had numbered 14,703 on September 1, but was in excellent position to attack despite its casualties. South Korean casualties at the battle were difficult to predict, but also thought to be heavy. The ROK 1st Division had numbered 10,482 men September 1.